• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to survey the successful cases of small and medium Business Systematization Cognition by examining their entrepreneurial characteristics and analysing the factors affecting their success. To that end, previous studies on the association types of small businesses were studied. A research model was developed, and research hypotheses for an empirical analysis were established upon it. Suh et al. (2010) insist on the importance of Small Business Systematization in Korea but also show that small business performance is suffering: they are too small to stand alone. That is why association is so crucial for them: they must stand together. Unfortunately, association is difficult, as they have few specific links and little motivation. Even in franchising networks, association tends to be initiated by big franchisers, not small ones. In that sense, association among small businesses is crucial for their long-term survival. With this in mind, this study examines how they think and feel about the issue of 'Industrial Classification', how important Industrial Classification is to their business success, and what kinds of problems it raises in the markets. This study seeks the different cognitions among the association types of small businesses from the perspectives of participation motivation, systematization expectation, policy demand level, and management performance. We assume that different industrial classification types of small businesses will have different cognitions concerning these factors. There are four basic industrial classification types of small businesses: retail sales, restaurant, service, and manufacturing. To date, most of the studies in this area have focused on collecting data on the external environments of small businesses or performing statistical analyses on their status. In this study, we surveyed 4 market areas in Busan, Masan, and Changwon in Korea, where business associations consist of merchants, shop owners, and traders. We surveyed 330 shops and merchants by sending a questionnaire or visiting. Finally, 268 questionnaires were collected and used for the analysis. An ANOVA, T-test, and regression analyses were conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results demonstrate that there are differences in cognition depending upon the industrial classification type. Restaurants generally have a higher cognition concerning job offer problems and a lower cognition concerning their competitiveness. Restaurants also depend more on systematization expectation than do the other industrial classification types. On the policy demand level, restaurants have a higher cognition. This study identifies several factors that are contributing to management performance through differences in cognition that depend upon association type: systematization expectation and policy demand level have positive effects on management performance; participation motivation has a negative effect on management performance. We confirm also that the image factors of different cognitions are linked to an awareness of the value of systematization and that these factors show sequential and continual patterns in the course of generating performances. In conclusion, this study carries significant implications in its classifying of small businesses into the four different associational types (retail sales, restaurant, services, and manufacturing). We believe our study to be the first one to conduct an empirical survey in this subject area. More studies in this area will likely use our research frameworks. The data show that regionally based industrial classification associations such as those in rural cities or less developed areas tend to suffer more problems than those in urban areas. Moreover, restaurants suffer more problems than the norm. Most of the problems raised in this study concern the act of 'associating itself'. Most associations have serious difficulties in associating. On the other hand, the area where they have the least policy demand is that of service types. This study contributes to the argument that associating, rather than financial assistance or management consulting, promotes the start-up and managerial performance of small businesses. This study also has some limitations. The main limitation is the number of questionnaires. We could not survey all the industrial classification types across the country because of budget and time limitations. If we had, we could have produced many more useful results and enhanced the precision of our analysis. The history of systemization is very short and the number of industrial classification associations is relatively low in Korea. We should keep in mind, though, that this is very crucial to systemization entrepreneurs starting their businesses, as it can heavily affect their chances of success. Being strongly associated with each other might be critical to the business success of industrial classification members. Thus, the government needs to put more effort and resources into supporting the drive of industrial classification members to become more strongly associated.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.137-164
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• 2011

In the past, retailers secured customer loyalty by offering convenient locations, unique assortments of goods, better services than competitors, and good credit policy. All this has changed. Goods assortments among stores have become more alike as national-brand manufacturers place their goods in more and more retail stores. Service differentiation also has eroded. Many department stores have trimmed services, and many discount stores have increased theirs. Customers have become smarter shoppers. They don't pay more for identical brands, especially when service differences have diminished. In the face of increased competition from discount storess and specialty stores, department stores are waging a comeback war. Growth of intertype competition, competition between store-based and non-store-based retailing and growing investment in technology are changing the way consumers shop and retailers sell. Different types of stores-discount stores, catalog showrooms, department stores-all compete for the same consumers by carrying the same type of merchandise. The biggest winners are retailers that have helped shoppers to be economically cautious, simplified their increasingly busy and complicated lives, and provided an emotional connection. The growth of e-retailers has forced traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to respond. Basically brick-and-mortar retailers utilize their natural advantages, such as products that shoppers can actually see, touch, and test, real-life customer service, and no delivery lag time for small-sized purchases. They also provide a shopping experience as a strong differentiator. They are adopting practices as calling each shopper a "guest". The store atmosphere should match the basic motivations of the shopper. If target consumers are more likely to be in a task-oriented and functional mindset, then a simpler, more restrained in-store environment may be better. Consistent with this reasoning, some retailers of experiential products are creating in-store entertainment to attract customers who want fun and excitement. The retail experience must deliver value to turn a one-time visitor into a loyal customer. Retailers need a tool that measures the full range of components that define experience-based value. This study uses an experiential value scale(EVS) developed by Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001) which reflects the benefits derived from perceptions of playfulness, aesthetics, customer "return on investment" and service excellence. EVS is useful to predict differences in shopping preferences and patronage behavior of customers. EVS consists of items measuring efficiency, economic value, visual appeal, entertainment value, service excellence, escapism, and intrinsic enjoyment, which are subscales of experiencial value. Efficiency, economic value, service excellence are linked to the utilitarian shopping value. And visual appeal, entertainment value, escapism and intrinsic enjoyment are linked to hedonic shopping value. It has been found that consumers value hedonic experiences activated from escapism and attractiveness of shopping environment as much as the product quality, price, and the convenient location. As a result, many department stores, discount stores, and other retailers are introducing differential marketing strategy based on emotional/hedonic values. Many researches suggest that consumers go shopping not only for buying products but also for various shopping experiences. In other words, they seek the practical, rational value as well as social, recreational values in the shopping process(Babin et al, 1994; Bloch et al, 1994). Retailers may enhance buyer's loyalty to store by providing excellent emotional/hedonic value such as the excitement from shopping, not just the practical value of buying good products efficiently. We investigate the effect of perceived shopping values on the emotional experience and store loyalty based on the EVS(Experiential Value Scales) developed by Holbrook(1994), Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001). This study assumes that the relative effect of shopping value dimensions on the responses of shoppers will differ according to types of stores and analyzes the moderating effect of store type(department store VS. discount store) on the causal relationship between shopping value dimensions and store loyalty. Emprical results show that utilitarian values of shopping experience and hedonic value of shipping experience give the positive effect on the emotional response of consumers and store loyalty. We also found the moderating effect of store types. The effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toward discount store is higher than the effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toword department store. And the effect of hedonic shopping value on the emotional response to discount store is higher than on the emotional response to department store. The empirical results reflect on the recent trend that discount stores try to fulfill the hedonic needs of consumers as well as utilitarian needs(i.e, low price) that discount stores traditionally have focused on

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.709-718
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• 2010

The study was performed through questionnaire to determine purchase characteristics and consumers' satisfaction for Hanwoo beef for 400 residents in Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do, Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do. The results obtained from 363 consumers excluding 37 improperly answered ones were statistically analyzed. The properly answered consumers were classified according to gender, 107 (29.5%) male, 256 (70.5%) female, and ages, 70 (19.3%) twenties, 97 (26.7%) thirties, 131 (36.1%) forties, and 65 (17.9%) over fifties. Consumers having older ages purchased Hanwoo beef more frequently (p<0.05), and Hanwoo specialty shop operated by farmers cooperative was the most popular purchasing sources. Consumers' favorite retail cuts for Hanwoo beef were in the order of loin (43.5%), ribs (22.9%), tender loin (10.5%), brisket (9.9%), round, fore (4.7%), others (3.3%), chuck (2.8%), strip loin, rump (2.5%). For the experiences of purchasing imported beef, 24.55% and 22.3% of consumers answered for 'sometimes' and 'yes', respectively, for the reason of 'low price' (73.3%). Consumers answered 'sometimes' (69.1%) for the question of disguisement of imported beef to Hanwoo beef, and thought traceability (61.7%) and country of origin (17.1%) would be the most effective methods to prevent disguisement. Percentages of responses were 61.1% and 75.5% for traceability and country of origin, respectively, under the assumption of consumer's trustworthiness of above 70%. Prerequisites for Hanwoo beef to succeed as a brand were in the order of taste (3.90 points), consumers' satisfaction (3.28 points), consumers' trustworthiness (3.20 points), safety (3.03 points). Consumers' satisfaction is influenced by the age, academic background and the occupation (p<0.05). Safety is expected to show the difference by the educational background (p<0.05) and the occupation (p<0.01), whereas consumers trustworthiness is influenced by the educational background and income (p<0.05). From the results obtained in the current study, it is concluded that traceability and country of origin is essential to gain consumers' satisfaction and trustworthiness, and that the most important factors for branding Hanwoo beef would be taste and safety.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.49-68
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• 2001

In this chapter, we summarize the results on the optimal location selection and present limitation and direction of research. In order to reach the objective, this study selected and tested the interaction model which obtains the value of co-ordinates on location selection through the optimization technique. This study used the original variables in the model, but the results indicated that there is difference in reality. In order to overcome this difference, this study peformed market survey and found the new variables (first data such as price, quality and assortment of goods, and the second data such as aggregate area, and area of shop, and the number of cars in the parking lot). Then this study determined an optimal variable by empirical analysis which compares an actual value of market share in 1988 with the market share yielded in the model. However, this study found the market share in each variables does not reflect a reality due to an assumption of λ-value in the model. In order to improve this, this study performed a sensitivity analysis which adds the λ value from 1.0 to 2.9 marginally. The analyzed result indicated the highest significance with the market share ratio in 1998 at λ of 1.0. Applying the weighted value to a variable from each of the first data and second data yielded the results that more variables from the first data coincided with the realistic rank on sales. Although this study have some limits and improvements, if a marketer uses this extended model, more significant results will be produced.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.19-45
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• 2008

This study is to empirically examine the primary dimensions of visual merchandising (VMD) of internet shopping mall, namely store design, merchandise, and merchandising cues, to be a attractive virtual store to the shoppers. The authors reviewed the literature related to the major components of VMD from the perspective of the AIDA model, which has been mainly applied to the offline store settings. The major purposes of the study are as follows; first, tries to derive the variables related with the components of visual merchandising through reviewing the existing literatures, establish the hypotheses, and test it empirically. Second, examines the relationships between the components of VMD and the attitude toward the VMD, however, putting more emphasis on finding out the component structure of the VMD. VMD needs to be examined with the perspective that an online shopping mall is a virtual self-service or clerkless store, which could reduce the number of employees, help the shoppers search, evaluate and purchase for themselves, and to be explored in terms of the in-store persuasion processes of customers. This study reviewed the literatures related to store design, merchandise, and merchandising cues which might be relevant to the store, product, and promotion respectively. VMD is a total communication tool, and AIDA model could explain the in-store consumer behavior of online shopping. Store design has to do with triggering a consumer attention to the online mall, merchandise with a product related interest, and merchandising cues with promotions such as recommendation and links that induce the desire to pruchase. These three steps might be seen as the processes for purchase actions. The theoretical rationale for the relationship between VMD and AIDA could be found in Tyagi(2005) that the three steps of consumer-oriented merchandising are a store, a product assortment, and placement, in Omar(1999) that three types of interior display are a architectural design display, commodity display, and point-of-sales(POS) display, and in Davies and Ward(2005) that the retail store interior image is related to an atmosphere, merchandise, and in-store promotion. Lee et al(2000) suggested as the web merchandising components a merchandising cues, a shopping metaphor which is an assistant tool for search, a store design, a layout(web design), and a product assortment. The store design which includes differentiation, simplicity and navigation is supposed to be related to the attention to the virtual store. Second, the merchandise dimensions comprising product assortments, visual information and product reputation have to do with the interest in the product offerings. Finally, the merchandising cues that refer to merchandiser(MD)'s recommendation of products and providing the hyperlinks to relevant goods for the shopper is concerned with attempt to induce the desire to purchase. The questionnaire survey was carried out to collect the data about the consumers who would shop at internet shopping malls frequently. To select the subject malls, the mall ranking data announced by a mall rating agency was used to differentiate the most popular and least popular five mall each. The subjects was instructed to answer the questions after navigating the designated mall for five minutes. The 300 questionnaire was distributed to the consumers, 166 samples were used in the final analysis. The empirical testing focused on identifying and confirming the dimensionality of VMD and its subdimensions using a structural equation modeling method. The confirmatory factor analysis for the endogeneous and exogeneous variables was carried out in four parts. The second-order factor analysis was done for a store design, a merchandise, and a merchandising cues, and first-order confirmatory factor analysis for the attitude toward the VMD. The model test results shows that the chi-square value of structural equation is 144.39(d.f 49), significant at 0.01 level which means the proposed model was rejected. But, judging from the ratio of chi-square value vs. degree of freedom, the ratio was 2.94 which smaller than an acceptable level of 3.0, RMR is 0.087 which is higher than a generally acceptable level of 0.08. GFI and AGFI is turned out to be 0.90 and 0.84 respectively. Both NFI and NNFI is 0.94, and CFI 0.95. The major test results are as follows; first, the second-order factor analysis and structural equational modeling reveals that the differentiation, simplicity and ease of identifying current status of the transaction are confirmed to be subdimensions of store design and to be a significant predictors of the dependent variable. This result implies that when designing an online shopping mall, it is necessary to differentiate visually from other malls to improve the effectiveness of the communications of store design. That is, the differentiated store design raise the contrast stimulus to sensory organs to promote the memory of the store and to have a favorable attitude toward the VMD of a store. The results that navigation which means the easiness of identifying current status of shopping affects the attitude to VMD could be interpreted that the navigating processes via the hyperlinks which is characteristics of an internet shopping is a complex and cognitive process and shoppers are likely to lack the sense of overall structure of the store. Consequently, shoppers are likely to be alost amid shopping not knowing where to go. The orientation tool enhance the accessibility of information to raise the perceptive power about the store environment.(Titus & Everett 1995) Second, the primary dimension of merchandise and its subdimensions was confirmed to be unidimensional respectively, have a construct validity, and nomological validity which the VMD dimensions supposed to have a positive correlation with the dependent variable. The subdimensions of product assortment, brand fame and information provision proved to have a positive effect on the attitude toward the VMD. It could be interpreted that the more plentiful the product and brand assortment of the mall is, the more likely the shoppers to favor it. Brand fame and information provision as well affect the VMD attitude, which means that the more famous the brand, the more likely the shoppers would trust and feel familiar with the mall, and the plentifully and visually presented information could have the shopper have a favorable attitude toward the store VMD. Third, it turned out to be that merchandising cue of product recommendation and hyperlinks affect the VMD attitude. This could be interpreted that recommended products could reduce the uncertainty related with the purchase decision, and the hyperlinks to relevant products would help the shopper save the cognitive effort exerted into the information search and gathering, which could lead to a favorable attitude to the VMD. This study tried to sheds some new light on the VMD of online store by reviewing the variables mentioned to be relevant with offline VMD in the existing literatures, and tried to link the VMD components from the perspective of AIDA model. The effect size of the VMD dimensions on the attitude was in the order of the merchandise, the store design and the merchandising cues.It is said that an internet has an unlimited place for display, however, the virtual store is not unlimited since the consumer has a limited amount of cognitive ability to process the external information and internal memory. Particularly, the shoppers are likely to face some difficulties in decision making on account of too many alternative and information overloads. Therefore, the internet shopping mall manager should take into consideration the cost of information search on the part of the consumer, to establish the optimal product placements and search routes. An efficient store composition would be possible by reducing the psychological burdens and cognitive efforts exerted to information search and alternatives evaluation. The store image is in most part determined by the product category and its brand it deals in. The results of this study support this proposition that the merchandise is most important to the VMD attitude than other components, the manager is required to take a strategic approach to VMD. The internet users are getting more accustomed and more knowledgeable about the internet media and more likely to accept the internet as a shopping channel as the period of time during which they use the internet to shop become longer. The web merchandiser should be aware that the product introduction using a moving pictures and a bulletin board become more important in order to present the interactive product information visually and communicate with customers more actively, therefore leading to making the quantity and quality of product information more rich.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 1998

This study was performed to investigate the changes of amount of S. typhimurium during cooking processes using pork and japchae (a Korean food which is made from meat, vegetables and noodles), and to support a practical application to develop a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) model. The pork was purchased in a retail shop, cut ($0.5\;cm\;{\times}\;10\;cm\;{\times}\;10\;cm$, 25 g), tested for Salmonella contamination (results: negative), inoculated with S. typhimurium ($10^{7}\;CFU/g$), then treated in various conditions related to cooking. Mter thawing for 24 hours in various conditions, the number of S. typhimurium was increased to $10^{10}\;CFU/g$ at a refrigerated temperature ($4~10^{\circ}C$), and to $10^{21}\;CFU/g$ at room temperature ($22~29^{\circ}C$). Mter thawing in a microwave oven for 40 seconds, the number of S. typhimurium increased to $10^{8}\;CFU/g$. During the thawing period, the number of S. typhimurium increased over time. At the refrigerated temperature, the number of the bacteria was $10^{10}\;CFU/g$ after 24 hours, $10^{13}\;CFU/g$ after 48 hours, and $10^{20}\;CFU/g$ after 72 hours. At room temperature the number of bacteria reached $10^{11}\;CFU/g$ in 2 hours, $10^{15}\;CFU/g$ in 4 hours, $10^{16}\;CFU/g$ in 8 hours, $10^{18}\;CFU/g$ in 12 hours, and $10^{21}\;CFU/g$ in 24 hours. Mter cooking in a frying pan (150{\pm}7^{\circ}C$) for 3 minutes, the bacterial count was $10^{16}\;CFU/g$. After cooking in hot water for 20 minutes, the bacterial count was $10^{7}\;CFU/g\;at\;60^{\circ}C,\;10^{6}\;CFU/g\;at\;63^{\circ}C,\;and\;10^{4}\;CFU/g\;at\;65^{\circ}C$. The fried pork was mixed with cooked vegetables, noodles, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and seasonings to make Korean japchae. This process took $10{\pm}2$ minutes. The bacterial count in the japchae increased to $10^{7}\;CFU/g$ from the count of $10^{6}\;CFU/g$ of the fried pork before it was mixed with the other ingredients. These results indicate that the amount of S. typhimurium is effected by various different cooking processes. This study can suggest that pork should be cooked in water at over $65^{\circ}C$ for 20 minutes in order to prevent food poisoning, if the pork is contaminated with S. typhimurium. The presence of S. typhimurium in the raw pork is identified in an HA for japchae, and the primary CCP for japchae is inadequate cooking (cooking method and time/temperature). We need to standardize time-temperature-size and amount of pork in cooking japchae, because pork is usually cooked in ordinary frying pans when we make this food.